Teen hopes cow raffle will send him to Europe

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SLIDELL, LA – A student at Slidell Jr High and his father are hoping a unique raffle will lead to a trip to Europe.

“Raffling off a cow,” said Scott Ward at the school’s library on Tuesday afternoon. His son was sitting by his side along with one of the teachers and organizers of the trip, Jaqueline Jackson.

14-year-old Logan Ward wants to take a 19 day trip to England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales with the People to People group’s Student Ambassador program.

Jackson has been taking teenagers on the trips for years, but she’s never heard of raffling off a cow to raise the money.

“I’ve heard of car washes, bake sales,” she said.

Tickets for the raffle are $10. The donor of the cow is asking to remain anonymous.

Whoever wins the cow in the raffle will get a lot of steak dinners once the animal is processed at an area slaughter-house.

“400 to 600 pounds, depending upon the weight that we process the cow. Cut and wrapped. And we provide a freezer. All the beef is packed in a freezer, and you get to keep the freezer as well,” Scott Ward said.

There are a few ways people can buy the raffle tickets. No more than 1,000 will be sold.

First, you can email the Wards at thecowraffle@gmail.com or you can order tickets through The Cow Raffle’s Facebook page.

The tickets can also be purchased at Natal’s Lounge in Slidell at 3608 Pontchartrain Dr or at Shenanigan’s Irish Pub and Restaurant at 2165 Gause Blvd.

The drawing will be held May 15 at Shenanigan’s.

Logan Ward says he’s taken a little ribbing from his friends at school about the raffle.

“They think I’m crazy,” Logan said. “I think it sounds like fun.”

If the raffle winner would rather keep the cow as a pet than eat it, there is another option says Scott Ward.

“If you have a cattle trailer, you are welcome to come back it up to the farm and load the cow on there and take him away.”